


The Little Project

by alvahana



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Coffee Dad Sakura Sojiro, Family, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Post-Canon, Sakura Sojiro Adopts Persona 5 Protagonist, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26611612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alvahana/pseuds/alvahana
Summary: Akira had been acting strange lately. Well, who was Sojiro kidding? The kid had always been strange.——In which Akira, Futaba and Morgana plot behind Sojiro’s back.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 118





	The Little Project

Akira had been acting strange lately.

Well, who was Sojiro kidding? The kid had always been strange. But this was different from his “having a full-on conversation with his cat” strange, or “returning home after school wearing an exhausted yet satisfied smirk as if he had just pulled a bank heist” strange (even though both of which, as Sojiro found out later, were exactly what had happened). This was more like Akira was hiding something. But Sojiro didn’t think Akira would be up to no good – he was a great kid with a heart of gold, despite the false labels some people attached to him because of his criminal record.

Akira had returned to his hometown at the end of his probation in March. Much to Sojiro’s surprise, the kid came back a few weeks after that; somehow his folks had agreed to let him stay in Tokyo and continue attending Shujin Academy for the rest of his high school year. Sojiro was glad to have Akira back (overjoyed, to be honest, not that he would ever admit that to a living soul). The kid deserved much more than what his distant parents and old “friends” had to offer. He deserved to be here in the city, around people who truly care about him.

It had been another month since Akira’s return. Life settled into a peaceful pace. Free of all the Phantom Thieves shenanigans going around and not having to worry about the safety of the kids, Sojiro was starting to get used to simply being a café owner. This was when Akira started these unusual behaviors.

Akira kept a jam-packed schedule – he liked going around the city meeting his confidants and juggling between several part-time jobs after school. So it usually was in the evening when the kid returned to café LeBlanc. But lately he was home much earlier, and would hide away all day in his room on holidays. Even at dinner, he would swiftly finish the curry Sojiro prepared, wash the dishes and excuse himself to hole up in the attic. When Sojiro asked what he was so busy with, he would simply reply “hectic schoolwork”.

Another day, Sojiro spotted Akira coming back with a large box stuffed inside his duffel bag. When Sojiro was about to ask the kid about it, Morgana leaped onto the bar counter, knocking off a couple of things before meowing repeatedly for attention. Sojiro was no fool – it was clearly as a diversion tactics. _So the cat was in on it too._

Of course Sojiro could just dart upstairs and demand to see what was inside the mysterious box. But no, he wouldn’t violate the kid’s trust and privacy like that. If the kid didn’t want Sojiro to know the content, then it was none of his business.

Still, curiosity got the best of him. The next morning, Sojiro tried questioning Morgana; it was worth a try even though he couldn’t understand the cat. But then the feline just looked at him with his big round eyes and gave him an innocent meow, as if he couldn’t possibly comprehend human language.

“Damn cat,” Sojiro muttered.

——

“I think Sojiro’s onto me,” Akira said as he, Futaba and Morgana sat side by side in the teenage girl’s room, surrounded by several computer monitors in front of them. It was a Saturday afternoon. With Sojiro working in LeBlanc, they didn’t have to worry about him listening in to their conversation.

“What? How!” Futaba exclaimed, her eyes still fixated at one of the screens.

Akira shrugged. “He’s in LeBlanc all the time. It’s hard to do things without him noticing.”

“But he can never discover what we’re doing – it’d ruin the whole plan!”

“Well, I don’t think he has caught on to our little project yet, but he’s definitely keeping a close eye on me lately. Probably thinks I’m acting weird or something.”

“He did ask me yesterday what you’ve been up to, Akira.” Morgana chimed in.

“What’d you tell him?”

“I don’t have to tell him anything – I’m a cat, he can’t understand me.”

“Oh, right.”

“Anyway, we can’t let him find out.” Futaba rapidly typed something on the keyboard. “Stay sharp, guys!”

“It’s just a few weeks more. We’ll manage.” Akira said with a confident smirk.

——

Now Futaba was acting strange too.

 _Great. My wayward son has corrupted my daughter._ Ignoring the fact that he had just thought of Akira as his son ( _That’s certainly not the point here!_ ), Sojiro recalled a fidgety Futaba and a poker-faced Akira entered the café a few minutes ago.

“Hey, you kids want some afternoon snacks?” Sojiro asked as the teenagers headed for the staircase.

“W-W-We do not require refreshment of any sort!” Futaba was like a deer caught in the headlights. “Good day, s-sir!”

“Huh? ‘Sir’?”

“Thanks, Boss, but we just ate.” Akira seemed to remain unfazed. “We’re going to watch some movies upstairs.” With that they disappeared.

 _What the heck are those two up to?_ Sojiro wasn’t worried Akira would be a bad influence on Futaba – he had been the exact opposite, helping Futaba getting out of her comfort zone, meeting new friends, and even encouraging her to go back to school. Still, Sojiro couldn’t help but fear the kids might get themselves into troubles. He couldn’t stand the idea of something bad happening to them or losing either one of them.

_Oh jeez, I’m getting sappy._

——

“That certainly adds to Boss’ suspicion, Futaba,” Akira whispered once they were in the attic.

“Yeah, what was that?” Morgana popped up from Akira’s bag. “You talked like Yusuke when you were nervous.”

“I-I-I did no such thing!” Futaba retorted.

——

Akira still hadn’t come downstairs for breakfast. Since it was Sunday, Sojiro decided to let the kid sleep a little longer. Futaba, on the contrary, was up bright and early, and went out even before Sojiro. “I-I-I have some pressing matter to attend to!”, she had stuttered before storming out of the house. _What an odd girl._ Sojiro shook his head fondly as he recalled.

“Hey kid!” Sojiro shouted towards the general direction of the attic, his voice more teasing than angry. “If you’re going to sleep away your day, I won’t leave any coffee or curry for you!”

No response. Sojiro shook his head again.

It was well past eleven in the morning when Sojiro was about to call again. But then a black feline dashed down the stairs and meowed frantically at him. Sojiro sighed as he scratched the back of his head. “In case you forget, I don’t speak cat language.”

On cue, Morgan suddenly stood with his hind legs and pointed one of his paws towards the attic. And then, he dropped all fours on the ground, as if imitating a human passing out.

_Shit. Akira._

Sojiro rounded the counter and rushed up the staircase as fast as his old bones would allow. _Was the kid sick? How did I not notice?_ Dozens of horrible scenarios ran through his mind. His heart was pounding and he was prepared for the worst by the time he reached the top.

What he wasn’t prepared for were a loud “ _POP”_ and glittering confetti flying everywhere.

“Happy Father's Day, Sojiro!”

Sojiro could only blink at the scene in front of him. Akira was unmistakably _not_ collapsed on the floor; in fact, he looked even livelier than usual, smiling brightly with a cheerful Futaba standing by his side, both of them holding party poppers in their hands. Above them Sojiro could see some decorative swirls and strings hanging from the attic beams.

“…Huh?” Sojiro was normally more eloquent than this.

“Uh…We didn’t know what to get you.” Akira, with a sheepish expression, handed a large box to Sojiro. “So we figure we’d make you something instead.”

It took Sojiro another moment to form a coherent response. “Th-This was what you have been planning?”

“Yeah! Didn’t see it coming, did you?” Futaba had a silly grin on her face.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Akira said expectantly.

“Open it open it!” Futaba urged. Even Morgana was twitching his tail in an excited manner.

“A-Alright.”

Opening the box lid revealed a large leather-covered binder, a photo album, at a closer look. Sojiro flipped open the cover. Inside were filled with numerous photos of Sojiro, Futaba, Morgana and Akira together, each piece accompanied by colorful comments and occasionally drawings. The photos were all the memory they share. Like the time Sojiro taught Akira to make coffee for the first time. Like the time Sojiro treated them to the pricy sushi restaurant. Like the time Sojiro scolded at Morgana for knocking over the coffee pot and spilling it all on Akira and Futaba giggling non-stop.

A lot of the photos were taken inside the café from an upper angle, probably by a hidden camera installed by Futaba. Sojiro particularly liked the one where he was just standing behind the counter, watching Akira and Futaba devouring the curry he made. There was always a warm sensation in his heart whenever the kids enjoyed his food with satisfaction.

“This is…” Sojiro spoke around the lump in his throat. He looked up to Akira and Futaba, both of them smiling warmly at him.

On the second to last page was a worn-out photograph. A very young Futaba was hugging the leg of Wakaba. Sojiro, standing next to them, had one of his hands on Wakaba’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but trace a finger on the split edge of the photo.

On the last page, there was no more pictures, just several lines of handwritten text. The top line read _“I love you and your curry and coffee soooooo much, Dad!”_ right next to a ＼(￣▽￣)／ followed by lots of hearts. Sojiro was not familiar with this kind of “emotional icons”, or whatever kids liked to call them these days. But this icon in particular, he understood the meaning behind, and he definitely felt the same way to her daughter. He knew that he was smiling.

Below was a cat paw print _,_ followed by a line of illegible child-like handwriting, which took Sojiro a moment to decipher: _“Thanks for fatty tuna, Boss! I want more and more snacks in the future!”_ Sojiro couldn’t help but chuckled.

At the bottom were two lines of neat writing accompanied by Akira’s signature. _“I can’t thank you enough for everything you have done for me, Sojiro. You gave me a home. A place to belong to.”_

A drop of water suddenly appeared on the page, smudging the words. Except it wasn’t water, Sojiro noticed. It was his tears.

“...Thank you, kids.”

Later, Sojiro would be grateful that there wasn’t any camera hidden in the attic. So there would be no photo evidence of him crying, or him embracing Futaba in one arm and Akira in the other, with Morgana on his shoulder purring and rubbing against his head.


End file.
